FP Tech Desk editor Matt Hartley rounds up the biggest announcements from Apple’s product event in this slide show

Apple Inc.’s thinner, lighter and faster iPhone 5 is evolutionary enough to reignite demand for the popular smartphone, analysts said on Thursday.

A “fast and furious” global roll-out that is expected to see the iPhone 5 available in 100 countries and with 240 carriers by December 2012 should also help the company exceed analysts’ sales estimates.

“Overall, we view the iPhone 5 as evolutionary, exemplifying Apple’s clockwork-like refinements in software and hardware,” Scott Craig, analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch told clients. “Competition is intensifying, and the gap between iPhone and other smartphone products are narrowing.”

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The analyst continues to have a bullish view on the iPhone 5 cycle and Apple remains his top pick with a US$770 price target on the stock.

Apple rose 2% to US$682.98 on Thursday.

Mr. Craig forecasts iPhone sales of 23 million in the third quarter and 49 million in the fourth quarter – approximately 10 million and up to 40 million of which, respectively, could be iPhone 5 units.

He noted that Apple kept its price points unchanged at $199, $299 and $399 for the iPhone 5. while the iPhone 4 and 4S will be free and $99 (through carriers), respectively. This keeps the iPhone 5 competitive with other high-end smartphones, while Apple continues to address the low-end market.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Amit Daryanani estimates that Apple could ship 8-10 million units in the September quarter, producing as much as US$5-billion of revenue, and more than 50 million units in both the December and March quarters.

“The phone is a material upgrade from past iterations that should drive a material upgrade cycle,” he said, noting that this may mark the biggest upgrade in Apple’s history.

Mr. Daryanani raised his price target on the stock to US$750 from US$700, pointing out that the iPhone 5 roll-out is much quicker and more global versus previous launches.

“The difference between the iPhone and peers has been decreasing in recent years. For investors who are discouraged that iPhone 5 has many of the features available in existing competitor phones, we note that Apple seems to put them together better than its peers,” the analyst said, highlighting its better camera, longer battery life, metal casing, as well as the new and smaller nano-SIM card.

“Following the product announcement, we are increasingly confident that Apple is on the brink of a 12-18 month product cycle with the iPhone 5, helping sustain its above-peer growth potential,” Mark Moskowitz, analyst at JPMorgan said in a research note. “While much of the improvements were expected given indications from the supply chain and blogosphere, we think the device stands to support a major product cycle and restore Apple’s market leadership in smartphones.”

The iPhone 5 is 18% thinner, 20% lighter and boasts two times faster processing and graphics speeds than the iPhone 4S. The new display is 4 inches versus 3.5 inches for the 4S.

“In our view, Apple is still trading like a value stock and not as a high-growth story,” the analyst said. “We expect Apple to continue outperforming on both top and bottom-line growth metrics relative to the peers as the company’s rapid growth phenomena of the iPhone and iPad intensify. Plus, do not forget about the Mac business, which could benefit from the iPhone and iPad further penetrating regions and customer verticals.”

UBS analyst Steven Milunovich, who raised his price target on Apple shares to US$780 from US$740, told clients that “if nothing else, the level of interest in the iPhone 5 unveiling reflects the strength of the brand.”

“From an investor’s viewpoint, the biggest money was to be made recognizing years ago that an Apple event would become akin to the Oscars for technology,” he said. “Still, the brand remains ascendant; it will be time to fold the tent when an iPhone launch gets the yawns that upgraded PCs get today.”

Mr. Milunovich views the iPhone name as misleading since it is really a portable computer, with the phone itself only about the fifth-used function after Internet browsing, texting, maps and games.

“Consequently, it is disrupting the PC in the classic sense of attacking from below, first by addressing non-consumption and over time moving into the mainstream,” he said in a research note. “Destroying phone competitors, such as RIM and Nokia, is almost collateral damage.”

Next up is the iPad mini launch, which Mr. Moskowitz at JPMorgan believes will arrive in early October.

Mr. Craig at Bank of America believes it is increasingly likely that Apple will announce the new iPad product with a smaller 7-8 inch screen size and lower price point ($200-300) this year.

“This would further lower the iPad’s entry price point from $400 today and add considerable pressure to other consumer-centric tablet vendors,” he said.

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